Home Resort question

[Bethpremier]

I was wondering if I could request help from all DVC members. I am considering becoming part of the club. I wanted to get the pros and cons on choosing a certain resort to buy into for now. Its very cheap to buy resale on Vero Beach or Hilton Head. How would this affect future stays if I wanted to stay in Disney World besides the 11 month reservation window for the said home resort?

Thanks ahead of time for your answers!
Beth

 

[twinboysmom]

I am no expert but I do believe in buying where you want to stay. Others have done better with this but over the past 7 or so years I haven't had the best of luck with the 7 month window and no luck with wait lists. We own at SSR which I love but other resorts are sometimes hard to get into. A lot of this does depend on what time of year you want to travel. WDW off seasons do not equal low season for DVC. I do know maintenance fees at the beach resorts are quite high, something to consider. If you want to stay at WDW I would buy one of the WDW resorts. You might offer more about your vacation styles, family size, etc to help others give you more info. Good luck with your decision.

 

[ELKHUNTER]

One thing i would really consider are the annual dues at Vero and HH, with Vero having the highest dues of any DVC. Also Disney could one day sell these resorts and drop them from DVC since they are not on property. I think the chance is very slim, but always a possiblilty.

 

[SSR]

1. You should also take into account the higher annual maintenance fees for VB and HHI. While the price per point is lower, the fees are something you also need to factor into overall cost.

2. The 11 vs. 7 month window is the primary concern. If you want to stay at Beach Club Villas or one of the other more popular/smaller places, you'll have trouble getting reservations at the 7 month windows.

3. Thus, it's generally a good idea to buy where you want to stay (or wouldn't mind staying).

4. I strongly would recommend considering buying SSR on the resale market. Great prices out there right now. Plus, you'll never know whether might decide to treat off-site properties like VB and HHI differently in the future. For peace of mind, I'd lean toward an on-site DVC property.

Best of luck whichever direction you choose...

[EDIT: I was typing as the other good answers above were being posted...thus, the redundancy...]

 

[JimMIA]

I would seriously evaluate two questions before you start worrying about home resort:

1. Can you, and will you, reliably be able to book vacations more than seven months in advance? Many families can, many other families (due to family, school, or work constraints) cannot.
2. Do you REALLY care where you stay?

If you cannot book in the 11-month window, home resort doesn't matter except for dues.

If you don't care where you stay as long as it's onsite, home resort doesn't matter. In that case, I would choose a resort where you would not be disappointed to stay if you couldn't get your first choice, with the determining factor being cost (both purchase and dues).

In addition to the dues issue with VB and HHI, there is one other consideration.

If the majority of your DVC stays will be at WDW, I would purchase a WDW resort. If you do that, you will not only enjoy lower dues, but you will be able to book something at WDW at 11 months.

Then at seven months, you can try to change your reservation to another WDW resort. If you are unsuccessful, you still have a reservation onsite. (That strategy is the reason we often say, "Don't buy where you would be disappointed to stay.")

 

[palaemon]

I did the spreadsheet. And assuming only a 3% rise in dues per year, on a 250 point contact, you'd save $23,000 over the life of the contract. (SSR vs VB)

You'd save 2-3k right off the sale price for VB, but the MFs would eventually get you. Of course, you'd eat all the savings of SSR since it's contract is 12 years longer. But at least that's 12 more years of use.

 

[Sandisw]

Jim has posted excellent advice. Home resort really comes in to play only if you can book during the home resort booking time and you would be disappointed if you couldn't stay certain places.

We bought at BLT and paid a lot more for it because we knew that it was the only DVC resort for us. If we couldn't get in there at 7 months, we would be disappointed.

For us, where we stay is very important so we spent about $5000 more to buy BLT than had we bought SSR resale.

But, if your purpose is to stay at WDW then I don't know if I would invest at off site properties.

Even if you can't book during home resort period now, there could come a day when you can (or someone using your points could) and owning something that is not at WDW prevents you from ever booking prior to 7 months.

However, if you own a place like SSR or OKW whose prices and MF's are a good deal, you could book so you have something. There are certain times of the year that you want to have something booked far in advance.

Good luck!

 

[kenny]

As others have said beware of the MF.

Also, while I was not a proponent of buy where you want to stay at first, I am now. Originally we purchased at SSR. It was back in early 2008 and they were only offering SSR or AKV. We liked SSR better.

Having stayed at SSR several times we do really enjoy it and don't mind staying there.

When BLT went on sale we bought a small 100pt contract. After staying there this year we decided THAT is where we want to stay. Yes we will try the other resorts, and yes we still like SSR but we LOVE BLT.

Needless to say we sold our SSR contract (actually 3 days ago!) and purchased all BLT pts last week.

If there is a resort you know you like, buy there. You will be glad you did in the end.

 

[saphyre]

Is there a publication that lists the different monthly dues for each DVC Property? I am a OKW owner and would like to know how my dues compare with other resorts.

I am considering selling my OKW ownership since I have rented it out for the past 10 years. How does OKW compare with the newer resorts when it comes to monthly dues and does that effect how much you can ask when selling?

I think besides the reservation window it is also important to think about what you enjoy when on vacation. I absolutely loved OKW when my children were young. It definitely beats out all others for a "welcome home" feel. If you are more concerned with being in the middle of things then OKW would not be a good choice. Really depends on what you are looking for when deciding where you wouldn't be disappoionted.

 

[RobDoc]

Is there a publication that lists the different monthly dues for each DVC Property? I am a OKW owner and would like to know how my dues compare with other resorts.

You can review the dues history for all DVC resorts in the DVC Resource Center linked at the top of the DVC Forums.

Here is the complete history of annual fees for all DVC resorts:

Year OKW VB(s) VB HH - BWV VWL -BCV SSR AKV -BLT VGC

2010 4.87 5.18 6.61 5.57 5.36 5.20 5.15 4.46 4.95 3.78 3.94
2009 4.73 4.97 6.41 5.36 5.21 5.04 5.00 4.34 4.85 3.67 3.82
2008 4.56 4.71 6.04 5.16 5.04 4.87 4.80 4.21 4.71
2007 4.40 4.39 5.63 4.98 4.85 4.73 4.63 4.12 4.62
2006 4.24 4.12 5.27 4.34 4.69 4.61 4.48 3.98
2005 3.86 3.84 4.87 3.86 4.41 4.35 4.27 3.83
2004 3.68 3.67 4.67 3.70 4.25 4.22 4.18 3.80
2003 3.49 3.37 4.37 3.69 4.11 4.05 3.97
2002 3.22 3.33 4.17 3.49 3.92 3.80 3.77
2001 3.13 2.70 3.98 3.32 3.83 3.63
2000 3.16 2.87 4.07 3.25 3.94 3.62
1999 3.16 2.82 3.99 3.18 4.02
1998 3.17 2.76 ---- 3.20 3.94
1997 3.14 2.90 ---- 3.16 3.84
1996 2.99 2.82 ---- 3.16 3.70
1995 2.84 2.76
1994 2.70
1993 2.63
1992 2.56
1991 2.51

 

[saphyre]

Great info, thanks for the quick reply

 

[DebbieB]

Also consider the end date of each resort. Original OKW, BWV, WLV, BCV expire in 2042. Extended OKW expire in 2057. Others expire 2054-2060.

 

[ssnelle]

Also considering the same, selling our SSR...same reasons.

As others have said beware of the MF.

Also, while I was not a proponent of buy where you want to stay at first, I am now. Originally we purchased at SSR. It was back in early 2008 and they were only offering SSR or AKV. We liked SSR better.

Having stayed at SSR several times we do really enjoy it and don't mind staying there.

When BLT went on sale we bought a small 100pt contract. After staying there this year we decided THAT is where we want to stay. Yes we will try the other resorts, and yes we still like SSR but we LOVE BLT.

Needless to say we sold our SSR contract (actually 3 days ago!) and purchased all BLT pts last week.

If there is a resort you know you like, buy there. You will be glad you did in the end.

 

[kenny]

Also considering the same, selling our SSR...same reasons.

I say do it. We stayed there in Mar and loved it. We considered selling the SSR back then but were afraid to since it would cost us a few extra thousand (had to pay commission on the sale and BLT was more $$ than what we paid for SSR).

Then with the new incentive we saved $18 a pt since we were buying 300pts. At $102 per pt, don't see it ever being a better deal than that. I know resale is selling for about $100 but we have an Aug UY and haven't seen any AUG UY for BLT yet.

Plust BLT is going up to $130 12/1 and if you do want to finance, our guide told us the rate is going up on 11/1. Not sure if that is an issue for you or not.

We after seeing the incentive we decided for a few extra thousand we will guarentee where we want to be for the next 50 years. Didn't want to kick myself for 50 years over a few bucks considering the total price of 400pts!

Also we have 2 kids and want to give them each contracts when we are too old to go. With SSR and BLT we knew there would be a problem as to who got what.

We listed our contract with TTS and it sold in less than two weeks. Couldn't be happier now!

If BLT is really where you want to be go for it. We get the buy where you want to stay deal now.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

I did the spreadsheet. And assuming only a 3% rise in dues per year, on a 250 point contact, you'd save $23,000 over the life of the contract. (SSR vs VB)

You'd save 2-3k right off the sale price for VB, but the MFs would eventually get you. Of course, you'd eat all the savings of SSR since it's contract is 12 years longer. But at least that's 12 more years of use.

I agree. If you are making reservations typically less than 7 months in advance then in my opinion Saratoga Springs is the way to go.

Jason

 

[crisi]

I agree. If you are making reservations typically less than 7 months in advance then in my opinion Saratoga Springs is the way to go.

Jason

OKW isn't a bad deal either - particularly if you are older and don't have to worry about the expiration date (with OKW some contracts have been extended and have longer expirations, some haven't and have shorter expirations).

Those two resorts are really the good values in a DVC purchase - if you aren't hung up on staying at BLT or needing BCV or some other "I really would be disappointed if I weren't at...." resort.

 

[77kool]

I would seriously evaluate two questions before you start worrying about home resort:

1. Can you, and will you, reliably be able to book vacations more than seven months in advance? Many families can, many other families (due to family, school, or work constraints) cannot.
2. Do you REALLY care where you stay?

If you cannot book in the 11-month window, home resort doesn't matter except for dues.

If you don't care where you stay as long as it's onsite, home resort doesn't matter. In that case, I would choose a resort where you would not be disappointed to stay if you couldn't get your first choice, with the determining factor being cost (both purchase and dues).

In addition to the dues issue with VB and HHI, there is one other consideration.

If the majority of your DVC stays will be at WDW, I would purchase a WDW resort. If you do that, you will not only enjoy lower dues, but you will be able to book something at WDW at 11 months.

Then at seven months, you can try to change your reservation to another WDW resort. If you are unsuccessful, you still have a reservation onsite. (That strategy is the reason we often say, "Don't buy where you would be disappointed to stay.")

Thank you. Our local school district in NJ used to give us calendars 3 years in advance! Now, we don't even have 2011-2012!

 

[AlwaysDreamofDisney]

There is always "Jersey Week" - with the NJEA Teachers convention you can rest assured your kids will always be off the first Thursday and Friday of November! And if your not sure you can always go to the NJEA website to verify the dates a year or 2 in advance!

It's actually a nice time to go as it's like Indian Summer. A little blast of nice warm air before the cold really sets in and the snow comes along. The MOST expensive part of going this week is the airfare though! That you need to book months in advance. Possibly even before the 7 month booking window!

On top of this our district always has the Mon, Tue, Wed of this week as a half days for Teacher Conferences! So it makes it a no brainer for us to go then (now). Didn't this year because we were just there in September. My kids missed the 1st day of school - but oh, well!